Girls Are Icky
by Hymntanra
Summary: A young, five year old Kyle overhears Cartalion talking about first kisses. After mistaking kissing as a sign of being a 'true man', he decides to go talk to Belderos. BeldesKyle.


Girls are Icky

Kyle liked to hang around Cartalion. He was a seasoned fighter, brave, and did all that cool stuff that he hoped to one day accomplish. He was a warrior. He was what some would even define as a TRUE MAN. Kyle didn't really know what the others meant by 'true man' but it definitely SOUNDED cool. He knew that the word 'manly' seemed to apply to all of the big, cool warriors—even the lady fighters! So if there was one thing the little Nova child loved, it was hanging around cool fighters. Even at five years old, he swore that one day he'd be just like all of those knights.

But he only could wonder…how?

He knew that growing up to be a 'true man' meant growing up. It meant hitting eighteen, or some arbitrary age that spited the young dragon-boy constantly. Kyle figured that there had to be a way around it. There HAD to be. And if there wasn't, the boy was well willing to create one that had never been seen before. First, though, he had to make sure there wasn't a pre-existing way—better to not waste his effort on discovering a new method if a method already existed and worked just fine.

However, after hours of half research and staring at words he could barely read, Kyle had to admit that he was running into some serious roadblock when it came to 'being a man' and 'becoming a true man'. The books in Fanelle's studies were all about magic, religions, and knighthood. All a bunch of boring history about some guy named Kaiser that Kyle figured was pretty manly, but knowing that didn't help his situation at all.

No, these stupid books weren't helping at all!

Who cared anyways. Books were for girls and nerds.

Kyle threw the book down on the floor; it barely made a sound. His weak, child arms were not quite strong enough to create an impact. The boy scrunched up his nose and headed back into the square. He had to find Cartalion. HE'D be able to help Kyle. After all, he was an adult and he was a knight. Who better to help him learn about being a man, than an adult knight with several years of experience on his back. A smile stretched across his face as he rushed across the courtyard to the redhead. He was speaking with a blonde bearded man that Kyle didn't know very well. From what he could remember, the dragon child thought his name was Piston or some such thing.

He paused before he reached Cartalion; out of the sight of the two warriors, he might be able to figure out their conversation. From what the boy could tell, the two of them were talking about women. Half of what the two of them said made no sense to him—who cared about those chest lumps, anyways?—but Kyle figured if he listened intently then he might pick something up about being a 'true man'.

"Ah, you know, I remember when I was young." Cartalion sighed wistfully. "I remember my first kiss, too. She was a pretty little thing from across town…things happened, we couldn't go on, she left the Pantheon. But really, that was the first time I really understood."

"You're pretty sappy for a warrior, you know."

"Ah, I know. But it's good to be sentimental for the childhood days, isn't it?" Cartalion grinned. "It helps to give more drive to a fighter. Gives them memories to fight for. I can't go back to that nice little pavilion I shared with her if Pantheon is destroyed. You get what I'm saying here, Piston?"

"Whatever you say, Cartalion. I'm not going to question your inane logic."

Kyle pressed his back against one of the pillars in the town square. A 'first kiss'? He had heard of that kind of thing…it was that thing that the couples did when they wanted to display affection for each other. Kyle didn't like it, as his five year old mind told him that it was gross to do that kind of thing. But the way Cartalion talked about it, the more it seemed like it was awfully important to being a successful warrior. Like it was really important to being a 'true man'. It was perplexing, but Kyle wasn't about to question it.

But he didn't want to kiss a GIRL.

Girls were icky. They liked weird things and most of them didn't even like to fight. Kyle couldn't understand how so many girls didn't like to fight—Tear did, but he couldn't do that with Tear. It felt…weird, somehow. She was a nice girl but…she was still a girl. And he figured it would still be pretty gross if he kissed a girl. But Cartalion had said that the 'first kiss' was super important…Kyle groaned, then he perked up.

He thought he should ask someone for advice.

Belderos was older than both Tear and Kyle, though it was only by about two years. He could be arrogant, for sure, but he was older and so he knew things that the both of them didn't. It felt weird to go ask him for advice on such a thing, and the look on the other boy's face was enough to verify that it was a bizarre question. The expression was a mix between disgust, confusion, and downright horror.

"Kissing? First kissing?" Belderos said incredulously. "Kyle, that's gross!"

"Well, yeah, but Cartalion said—"

"But Kyle, that's not something that you should be doing. Why in the world would you want to do something so weird as kissing?" Belderos stuck his tongue out. "Because of something Cartalion said? You know he can be a little out there sometimes. It's not always the best idea to believe him."

"But I'm trying to be a 'true man'!" Kyle argued.

"What does kissing have to do with being a true man?"

"W-well…" Kyle stammered. The truth was that he really didn't know. He didn't even know what constituted a 'true man', much less what it took to be considered one. How was kissing important to being a true man? Kyle was very sure he could not answer such a question. So he just shook his head in annoyance. "It just IS, okay?! They were talking about it like it was super important so it has to be!"

"That's awful reasoning, Kyle." Belderos shot back. "Leave me alone. I have stuff to think about. The Helisium Force has special plans to plot out! And they need their fearless leader for that."

"You're such a jerk, Belderos." Kyle sniffed.

"Yeah, yeah." Belderos said absentmindedly as he stared at the sky. Kyle simply stood there watching his friend carefully. Belderos was right. Kissing was weird. And girls were icky so kissing one would be even weirder. The train of thought left the blue haired child confused and anxious. He knew that Cartalion had said that 'first kisses' were important but kissing girls was strange…KISSING was strange. And Belderos agreed completely with him. Though the latter was mean, Kyle still trusted his judgment. For the most part, anyways.

Then Kyle had an idea.

It was an insane idea.

But it was a lot better than kissing icky girls.

"Belderos?" Kyle asked, tone so quiet that it was almost impossible to tell what he was saying. The older boy groaned and sat up, shooting an annoyed expression at his friend. "Uhm…kissing girls is weird, right?"

"Right." Belderos nodded affirmatively.

"Well, would kissing boys be weird?"

"Huh?" Belderos looked at Kyle like he was insane. Honestly, he had no answer to such a question but he had to fake his way through. He WAS supposed to be their leader. So he was supposed to know the answer to everything. "Well…I think so? Isn't all kissing weird? I don't think it's just girls. It's just kind of weird period."

"How about kissing people you know?"

"Might be uncomfortable. But I guess it would be a little bit less weird, because it would be someone you probably trust." Belderos mused as he tapped his chin. "I mean, if you asked someone you know to kiss you, then…I dunno. Why are you asking so many weird questions, anyways?!"

"Uh, well, I was thinking." Kyle shifted nervously, looking pointedly to the side. "If it's gross to kiss girls, and okay to kiss someone you know and trust…would it be okay to kiss you, then?"

Belderos stared at the other boy blankly.

"…Huh?"

"Y…you heard me!"

Belderos jumped down on the grass next to Kyle, inspected him slowly and circling around him. He stared right into the other boy's eyes, trying to judge if he was honestly suggesting such a thing. The determined, but nervous, look in Kyle's face confirmed that the younger had not been kidding in the slightest. He was actually really willing to kiss Belderos. The older boy knitted his brows and sighed loudly.

"Ugh, you are such a pain sometimes." He groaned, climbing back up onto the large tan rock. Quickly he extended a hand and dragged Kyle up with him. The boy immediately sat cross legged in front of his friend, eyes still determined and expectant. It was almost unnerving how determined Kyle could be able such stupid things. "Are you really that desperate to do this kissing junk?"

"Of course! It will make me a 'true man'!" Kyle burst out.

"…Ugh, FINE. If it will SHUT YOU UP." Belderos grumbled, arranging his body to sit right in front of the blue haired boy. Kyle's expression lost a bit of its determination with the shock of Belderos' agreement, and at the implication that this was really about to happen. Or, at least, he hoped it would happen within the next year and a half. Belderos was damn well taking his time.

The two boys sat there for the long time, just staring blankly at each other and mildly uncomfortable with the close proximity of their faces. Belderos was shaking slightly, hand reaching out to tightly grip at Kyle's arm. The younger winced slightly but said nothing—this was not a battle he planned to give up just because of a bit of a too tight squeeze. Belderos swallowed deeply, and finally leaned forward tentatively.

It was very strange.

Or, at least, that was Kyle's thoughts on the matter. The other boy had chapped, slightly dry lips—he had probably been practicing early, Kyle mused—and was pressing very light against his own mouth. Slowly, the younger managed to imitate the adults in town. His eyes nervously slid shut and he positioned his hands on the older boy's shoulders. With that, the two boys simply sat there awkwardly for a few moments until Kyle had to come up for air. Coughing slightly, he looked shamefully over at his friend. Belderos was looking at him with a strange expression on his face—it was gone in a mere second, however, replaced by the customary annoyance.

"Geez, Kyle. Are you happy now?"

Kyle pondered the question for a moment. Was he happy now? He figured he was. It hadn't been ALL bad. It had felt a little awkward, and almost a little too brief, but it wasn't terrible. It felt kind of nice, actually. He actually found himself wanting another one. But the annoyance spelled out on Belderos' face told him that no such thing was going to happen, so he kept his mouth shut about that one.

"It was okay. I kind of liked it, actually." Kyle admitted.

"…Yeah. Well…maybe I did too." Belderos mumbled, crossing his arms and sitting on the corner of the tan rock. Kyle shot the other boy an inquisitive glance, which was not returned—he was too busy staring pointedly off into the distance and away from Kyle. "Hey. Um. Kyle."

"What?"

"Could…uhm, could we just not talk about this? Okay?" Belderos said quietly. "I…"

"What's wrong?"

"Just don't talk about it, stupid! If you tell anyone, I—"

"Wow, calm down! Geez! I'm sorry!" Kyle cried out, sliding down the rock to run towards the Pantheon. Belderos rushed after him, yelling loudly. Kyle didn't pay too much attention to his words, trying much harder to avoid the other boy's embarrassed wrath. The thought of Belderos being embarrassed by this nonsense sent an amused chuckle through the younger—which was squashed when Belderos tackled him to the ground. The older boy quickly pinned Kyle by the arms, but the boy beneath him just laughed and kicked.

"Stooop, leave me alone!" Kyle laughed, whining slightly. But he calmed at the serious look on Belderos' face. "Belderos…?"

"Seriously. Kyle. Please. Let's not talk about this to the adults, okay? I think they'll probably get mad or something." Belderos said uncomfortably. Kyle nodded slowly—if he wanted it to be that way, it was fine. It's not like it had really meant anything. He was sure it hadn't.

Okay, he wasn't sure of that.

But Belderos was his friend, and he had to respect his wishes.

"Okay, Belderos." Kyle smiled weakly. "But, uh, could you get off of me now…?"

The older boy yelped slightly, jumping away from the other. Kyle laughed slightly and dusted himself off. Slowly, but surely, the two boys began to make their way back to the Pantheon.


End file.
